Health and elderly care are set to create 25% of new employment opportunities

In a world where people are living longer, provision is required to care for those who are no longer able to function independently. The ageing population across Spain is not only changing the demographic landscape, but it’s also altering the nature of the economy. As more people enter retirement age and require health and social care - this is expanding job opportunities across the sector. 

According to employment statistics; hospitals, elderly care homes, respite and daycare centres are becoming one of the biggest employers in Spain. This trend is set to increase in the coming decades, with employment in the sector surpassing transport and new technologies, previously thought of as the biggest employers. 

The National Classification of Economic Activities states that the number of people working in health and social care has increased by 99,000 people since December 2018, this equates to a 24% increase in workers within this sector. 

Almost 31,000 of these people are classified as doctors or other healthcare professionals, the remaining 68,000 are understood to be health and social care support workers - with many working in elderly care homes and daycare centres. It is understood that no other sector has increased as significantly as can be seen in the health and social care sector. 

Other sectors with notable increases in employment include the hospitality industry, which has seen 39,000 new workers enter the sector between December 2018 and 2019, and the IT industry, (including developers and programmers) seeing numbers of workers increase by 23,500. These numbers, though impressive, do not rival the health and social care sector.

Most job opportunities appear to be within daycare centres and facilities, with almost 60,000 new positions created throughout 2019. Increased employment levels appear to be a result of a combination of an ageing population and cuts within the public sector as a continuing legacy of Spain’s financial crisis. Public sector cuts increased the number of people looking towards private care options, which has, in turn, increased employment within private healthcare institutions. 

While an expansion in employment opportunities cannot be disputed, unemployment levels in Spain remain at approximately 14% - a continuingly concerning statistic. Along with this, despite expanding job role opportunities in the healthcare sector, this industry does not appear to offer a substantial amount of job security. 

Though increasing levels of employment are available within the healthcare sector is evident, some employment statistics can be misleading. While the numbers of full-time workers in residential care homes, for example, has increased by 11,300, the number of part-time positions has expanded by 45,800 roles. These statistics suggest that despite job opportunities increasing, many full-time roles appear to be being replaced by part-time positions.

Forty percent of all new care support roles are understood to be temporary positions. Part-time positions combined with a vast number of temporary contracts available suggest that this increase in the labour market is actually increasing levels of job insecurity. 

Care related roles may be emotionally rewarding, but there is little opportunity for professional development or career progression within this specific sector, especially with regards to care worker roles. Pay is usually low and jobs tend to be part-time, temporary or generally inconsistent, questioning how positively impacting increasing levels of employment in the health and social care sector can be for Spain’s long term employment economy.